Planet Earth, It Was Fun While It Lasted

Associated Press: “The world’s leading climate scientists said global warming has begun, is ‘very likely’ caused by man, and will be unstoppable for centuries, according to a report obtained Friday by The Associated Press….The panel predicted temperature rises of 2-11.5 degrees Fahrenheit by the year 2100. That was a wider range than in the 2001 report. However, the panel also said its best estimate was for temperature rises of 3.2-7.1 degrees Fahrenheit. In 2001, all the panel gave was a range of 2.5-10.4 degrees Fahrenheit. On sea levels, the report projects rises of 7-23 inches by the end of the century. An additional 3.9-7.8 inches are possible if recent, surprising melting of polar ice sheets continues.”

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Despite all the dire warnings about global warming, I’m not sure that I’ll ever be convinced that there’s anything to worry about. Predicted temperature increases of 2-11.5 degrees over the next 93 years sound as fanciful as Pat Robertson predicting terrorist attacks and tsunamis. I take any kind of prediction, especially ones as general as the “predictions” made in the Bible, with a grain of salt.

In any case, all the global warming assertions haven’t stopped people from driving SUVs or consuming ridiculous amounts of energy. And also: most of these reports sound as though we’ve already passed the point of no return (“global warming … will be unstoppable for centuries”). I also look at the wording: “An additional 3.9-7.8 inches are possible if recent, surprising melting of polar ice sheets continues.” Well, sure, I’ll accept that–anything’s POSSIBLE. And how are the melting polar ice sheets surprising?

This report just sounds like more propaganda to me, with its “powerful language.” “Very likely,” “90 percent certainty,” and “nearly impossible” still sound like fence-sitting to me. It’s certainly not enough to convince me that we’re in dire straits, and I highly doubt it’ll be enough for people to change their habits.

“Scientists and economists have been offered $10,000 each by a lobby group funded by one of the world’s largest oil companies to undermine a major climate change report due to be published today.

Letters sent by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), an ExxonMobil-funded thinktank with close links to the Bush administration, offered the payments for articles that emphasise the shortcomings of a report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).”